Screening of FDA-Approved drugs

The MMRF is pleased to award

• David Frank, MD, PhD, Dana-Farber Institute
• Suzanne Lentzsch, MD, PhD, University of Pittsburgh
• Aaron Schimmer, MD, PhD, FRCPC, Princess Margaret Hospital

with $100,000 grant awards to support the testing of existing drug libraries against known molecular targets in myeloma. Using advanced screening technologies, researchers will identify compounds from these libraries that interact with known myeloma targets -- an important first step in developing these compounds into viable treatments for patients with myeloma.

Currently, there are many libraries of FDA-approved drugs and other available compounds that may be effective in treating multiple myeloma. However, to date, none of these libraries has been evaluated to determine their activity in treating myeloma.

To facilitate data sharing, the MMRF is maintaining a central database of all research results. The MMRF will also convene a Research Roundtable in early 2006 to enable researchers to share consistencies of findings and identify next steps toward validating potential new therapies for myeloma.

(From the MMRF Newsletter, Fall 2005)